But Cllr Roberts did not attend a scrutiny meeting called by the Conservatives last week - leaving him unable to answer questions on why he resigned so abruptly and over the board members he had chosen to take his place.

Instead, council chief exec told the meeting that she could not answer questions on the leader's resignation.

"There have been serious concerns raised about why Councillor Roberts resigned from the company and is not seeking re-election to the council, but no-one has been prepared to answer questions about it. The whole thing seems very odd indeed."